At the beginning of January I went to Dublin and England for about three weeks. Although it would have been amazing to spend the entire time traveling to ancestral hometowns and sight-seeing, most of the trip was for work. I did make and effort to take a couple of days for myself and see a few town some of my ancestors lived.

Denby, Derbyshire, England

My Hunt and Bardill/Bardel families were from a tiny little village called Denby. The village is only a few minutes north-east of Derby, Derbyshire, England. I have put together a little map of some of the places I visited while I was there as well as the location of where my Hunt ancestors lived.

Mercie Hunt (1863-1941)

My great great-grandmother, Mercie Hunt, was born ​3 April 1863 in Denby. She was the daughter of Hannah Hunt, who was the daughter of John Hunt and Sarah Bardell. In 1864 Mercie, Hannah and Sarah made their way to the United States and arrived in New York City on 23 June 1864. Mercie was just over a year old.

​John Hunt was a coal miner during part of his life. In both the 1851 and 1861 UK census he was living at the Smithy Houses with his wife and children. When I visited Denby, there was one of the original Smith Houses still standing, and someone even lives in it. I am not sure how many houses there originally were - there may have even just been the one that was there when I visited. When I searched online to find out more about the Smithy Houses, I found several websites proving more information about the houses, but nothing I found said how many houses there originally were. Below are some photos of the Smithy Houses as well as the local church where my ancestors were married, baptized and buried. I will write more about Denby in future posts.

Crewkerne, Somerset, England

The second place I had the opportunity to visit while I was in England was a small town called Crewkerne. Crewkerne is located in Somerset, almost on the border of Dorset.

My Rowsell family came from this little town. Douglas Rowsell and his wife, Ann Cleal, were married 29 June 1828 in Crewkerne. Together they had at least six children, including my 3rd great-grandfather, William Douglas Rowsell, who was born 1 November 1843 in Crewkerne.

Below are some photos of Crewkerne, including the home Douglas Rowsell and his family lived in 1851 when the census was conducted. I will post more in the future of the Rowsell family and Crewkerne.